Chambray & Curls

10 January 2014

Life // Getting organised, the stationery edition

I am one of those people who instantly forgets everything, unless I write it down. After spending years surrounded by cruddy bits of paper with cryptic notes-to-self all over, I have become a mad stationery lady. I love a good notebook! At the moment, there are three books which I use to organise my life:The Blog Book:
Any nice A5 notebook. My sister gave me this pretty one. I draw in monthly calenders for planning when I want to publish posts, and try to schedule in when to take photos and write them. More often than not, its all done on the same day, but when I know busy times are coming up, it helps to plan ahead a bit. On top of that I generally brainstorm. You know those magic moments when you have a great idea and you know it will slip away? I jot it down and then work it out later. It might be something I do in the next week, or something I do in a few months time. This way I find I tend to have a stock of post ideas for times when I'm less inspired... One end is for this blog, and the other is for Being Pretty Strong (my health and fitness blog I run with my guy). Last year was the first time I started planning in any way for my blog, and it has been really nice- methodical enough to keep things structured and fill in the gaps, but no so much as to make it feel too static and inflexible.The Diary:
I'm a sucker for a pretty diary! Plus, bright colours mean I'm way less likely to lose it... For me, my diary is how I keep track of... well, everything. Work, social life, boring admin stuff, birthdays, holidays, all of it. By the end of the year, my Diary is always ridiculously well battered! I usually have one bigger one and one teeny one for in my bag always. Whilst the exterior of my diary is not of huge concern to me, I'm quite fussy about the layout inside. This one is a winner. It is a Leuchtturm1917 A5 Weekly Planner (currently £11.55 on Waterstones and comes in a fair few colours). It has a big old overview of the years 2014 and 2015 with just the days of the months and which weekday they are, which I like for quickly seeing what day is when and marking important dates. Then it has a more detailed overview of 2014, with a line next to each day where you can pop in any major events. I tend to straight away pop in my work dates, any birthdays, appointments and holidays. This makes it ridiculously easy to see what is going on when, and for working out how long I might have until any particular deadline. Then the weekly part. There is one page for the week, with space for each day to be filled in with anything you need to do and then opposite is a blank lined page for notes. I love this because, as I mentioned, I cannot remember anything if I don't write it down. This means I can bung my to do lists, any random reminders, phone numbers or emails straight down without messing up the spaces I actually need for my days! For me, this works best. I don't have the sort of daily schedule that requires me to have an entire page dedicated to each day, so I can fit all my proper appointment shizzle in, with plenty of room for the rest of my messy life. On top of that, there is a pocket inside the back cover for bunging in all the random notes that somehow still accumulate... The Health Journal:
I've talked about health and fitness in my goals for the past couple of years, and its something I enjoy keeping track of. This year, I've discovered the amazing Moleskine Passions Wellness Journal. This is tailored to healthy living, with sections for diet, exercise and your goals amongst many others, and is completely personalisable for your particular goals. I have been using it to keep myself on track with eating well and getting back into regular exercise. It is love. I did a full review over on Being Pretty Strong so you can head over there if you want the full details on this, but trust. I write in it every day and it is perfect for helping me stay focused and motivated. If you've got any goals for getting healthier this 2014, you need to take a look at it!

And a few bonus stationery bits I love, because I am a crazy stationery lady and can't resist...One Line a Day 5 Year Diary. It is nice amongst all the planning and recording, just to have a space to reflect. I am rubbish at diarying for myself, but one line is manageable. By my bed, with a pen, it takes moments to do as aprt of my nightly routine. I can imagine its going to be fun reading these back in a few years time! Plus, it is so darn pretty.Notepads. All sorts of notepads. I have one on my desk by my laptop at all times. I use it mainly for scribbling down the numbers of photos I like and want to upload for the blog, but random reminders, quotes and thoughts slip in there too. Having one around just helps me avoid those random bits of paper I keep talking about.Sticky notes. I thought I'd see the end of these after finishing my Masters but actually *whispers* they have some uses beyond studenthood! We meal plan and at the moment are trying to use some new recipes for a change. Right now these babies are really useful for marking out which recipes we want to try over the next few weeks. Makes them way easier to find again!Travel Journals. Every big trip I do, I take a travel journal. I take a bit of time to write down what has happened each day, any fun stories or particularly amazing moments, or the thoughts that often swim about when you're quiet in a beautiful place, and stick in all the ticket stubs, labels of local food I loved, business cards and maps. By the time I come home it is a magical book of memories. I choose ones with flexible covers to expand out and pockets for putting bits and pieces into until I find tape or glue. I hope by the end of my life I'll have some pretty amazing tales.

6 comments:

I heartily approve of your beautifully organised/diarised life :-) who CAN resist a pretty notebook?! I have the one line a day diary and a notebook I'm using as a Jar of Awesome for 2014, and take new notebooks with me on every holiday :-) It's so nice to read through old travel journals when I'm struck with a case of wanderlust :-) xxx

It really is the nicest way to remember it isn't it? Photos are lovely but it doesn't always trigger exactly how it felt to be there and do things. Also, I always find when travelling, it is nice to just be present in the moment, not looking through a camera lens or phone, but still able to reflect and record that moment later by writing it down. Ixxx